


Learning Curve

by TaraFarrago



Category: Tiger & Bunny
Genre: Caring, Cute, Drabble, Feels, Friendship, Fun, Gen, slashy if you want it to be
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-20
Updated: 2018-02-20
Packaged: 2019-03-21 18:25:45
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,577
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13746723
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TaraFarrago/pseuds/TaraFarrago
Summary: Kotetsu is ALWAYS taking care of Barnaby... but it isn't always appreciated. Pickles, bandages, rescues, favors - it's a lot for a hero to learn to put up with.Just a handful of drabbles about Barnaby being on the receiving end of Kotetsu's well-intentioned meddling.





	Learning Curve

**Author's Note:**

  * For [fourthduckling](https://archiveofourown.org/users/fourthduckling/gifts).



> With thanks for the beta.

 

* * *

 

Kotetsu leans over Barnaby’s shoulder and points at the pickles in his hotdog wrapper. “Barnaby...” he says with a familiar warning edge.

They’ve had this conversation so many times before. “You and your pickles!” Barnaby offers him the wrapper. “Here, if you like them so much.”

“That’s not the point! Those were the _only_ healthy part of your lunch.”

“ _I eat healthier than you!_ ” Barnaby yells at him, not angrily, and not for the first time. “And I did some research -- pickles are not as healthy as you think. That’s just an old superstition, _Old Man_.”

“Not true!” pouts Kotetsu. “They have vitamins and they’re good for you after a workout.”

“We haven’t been working out,” he politely points out. Because he knows it will irritate him, Barnaby crunches the wrapper into a tight wad - pickles and all - and tosses it into a garbage can. “That was the _one_ thing I’ve eaten all week that can be called junk food - and at least _I_ didn’t douse mine with mayo.”

The older hero protests, “Mayo is my _one_ weakness.”

“Well - you like mayo, and I hate pickles. So leave me alone, please.”

Kotetsu grumbles quietly, letting the subject die. It’s a small victory, but Barnaby revels in it.

 

* * *

 

Barnaby blows his nose one more time, then ties his robe tighter and opens the door.

Kotetsu is there, carrying two overstuffed grocery bags. He pushes into Barnaby’s flat without waiting for an invitation.

“What are you doing?” Barnaby calls after him as he makes his way to the kitchen.

“Here to make sure you bounce back, Bunny.” The veteran hero pauses to chuckle at his own lame humor. Barnaby stops in the kitchen doorway and watches, dumbfounded, as Kotetsu unloads more food and medicine than the bags should reasonably hold. Five different kinds of cold and flu medicines, vitamins, painkillers, probably a week’s worth of soft tissues, a hot water bottle… plus a bizarre assortment of foods, some of which Barnaby doesn’t even recognize.

“What--” He’s so flabbergasted, and so stuffed up and hazy to begin with, that he can’t even finish the sentence. “What?”

The bags emptied, Kotetsu plants his hands on his hips and surveys his collection of sundries. He points to each of the food items in turn, taking inventory: “Onions and ginger, green tea powder, eggs and sake for tamagozake, honey, mushrooms, daikon…” He shoves a plastic container full of withered red... are they fruits? - at Barnaby. “Umeboshi. Have one now.”

Because he’s been caught off-guard, Barnaby unthinkingly obeys. “More of your old health food superstitions, Old Man?”

Now Kotetsu is rummaging in his cupboards, ignoring him. “Hrm, I assumed you had rice... and a rice cooker.” He stops to shake his head. “Bunny, you have more tableware than food in here, and you never have anyone over…”

“Kotetsu, this is… this is…”

Kotetsu smiles graciously. “I know, I know, you don’t have to say it.”

“Overkill!” The smile disappears - this is _not_ what Kotetsu had been expecting to hear. “It’s just a cold!”

He turns serious. “For now! That’s why you need to take care of it before it becomes anything worse.”

“But really,” he insists, sounding stuffier than he feels, “it’s not that bad. I was even thinking of going in for training later.”

Serious swiftly morphs into horrified. “What?! Out of the question, Bunny! The only cure for an infection is rest. The last thing you want to do is overwork yourself.”

Barnaby frowns, recalling the sea of empty liquor bottles at Kotetsu’s apartment, and wonders from whence this ‘my body is a temple’ zealotry has arisen.

But there’s no point in arguing when he’s gone full mother-hen like this. Kotetsu pushes him firmly but gently out of the kitchen toward his chair. “Find something relaxing to watch on your giant screen. I’ll bring something out to you in a bit.”

Barnaby sighs - and sneezes - and concedes the high ground to his partner for once.

 

* * *

 

Sitting in the locker room, Barnaby rolls his strained shoulder in wider and wider circles, wincing as he goes. He’s sure if he can stretch it far enough today, it’ll feel loose and relaxed again tomorrow.

“Here,” Kotetsu says behind him, and Barnaby turns to catch a bottle of Tiger Balm tossed at him. “Put that on under a bandage. And stop moving it around like that - you’re just going to make it worse.”

Barnaby smirks at the bottle. “Do you only have this because of the name?”

Kotetsu makes a face. “Don’t be ridiculous. Just use it and thank me later.” Because it won’t hurt to follow his advice for once, Barnaby unscrews the bottle and takes a dab of the ointment. Kotetsu blinks in surprise. “You’re really using it? No argument or teasing or calling me ‘Old Man’?”

“You’ve been getting injured on the job long enough that you must have a few tricks up your sleeve,” Barnaby answers, and then adds with a smirk, “ _Old Man_.”

Kotetsu laughs it off. “You're probably right. You know they say that ‘with experience comes wisdom’!” And in a flash, he's serious again. “And since you admit I'm so wise--”

“Pardon me please, I never said you were wise.”

“--you should have been more careful out there today. You’re good at jumping around but that was a risky move out on that crane.” He admonishes, “It’s lucky all you did was pull your shoulder--”

“Excuse me again!” He knows this is only a continuation of their everyday banter, but Barnaby can’t help bristling. “I listen to your lectures about my food choices and personal health habits all the time. But I draw the line at taking criticism from a hero who crashes into things so often he has a nickname about it.”

Kotetsu looks like he’s been slapped. And though Barnaby instantly regrets his tone, he can’t help the prick of indignation. Kotetsu has claimed the high ground on mealtime, workout routines, hobbies… but Barnaby is _objectively_ the better hero. He can’t let Kotetsu claim this, too -- just because he slipped up once ( _once!_ ) in how many missions? Compared to Kotetsu’s… Barnaby has lost count of the number of times he’s had to rescue his partner falling from buildings, or bridges, or that one time he jumped too high…

It’s Kotetsu’s turn to bristle. “It’s a good thing for you the ‘Crusher for Justice’ was around today with my handy cables to snatch you out of the air when I did!”

For a moment, the two heroes glare at each other across the locker room - eyes full of anger, tinged by regret.

Setting his teeth, Kotetsu lets out a growling sigh of frustration - perhaps realizing he, too, had sounded harsher than he’d intended. “You’re already the King of Heroes, Bunny. I just meant, if I hadn’t caught you… What good can you do from a hospital bed?”

Barnaby looks away. Kotetsu’s logic - and the concern beneath it - has left him deflated. He mumbles an apology. “You’re right. I didn’t mean…”

Kotetsu scratches the back of his neck and looks chagrined. “No, you’re right, too. I really can’t criticize… Not that I was criticizing! I just meant, how can I tell you to be careful when usually you’re the one catching me…” He chuckles, embarrassed. “You really are the better hero.”

Now Barnaby regrets his train of thought as well as his words. “That’s not true,” he says, meaning it.

But Kotetsu just laughs - deep and genuine. “No -- you catch me so often, it’s only fair that I owed you one.” Barnaby chuckles with him. It’s like there’d been no tension between them at all. Leave it to Kotetsu to turn the mood around with a laugh. And then his partner grins sheepishly, “Though, sorry I didn’t aim better. I guess if I’d caught you around the waist instead of the arm, your shoulder wouldn’t be--”

“It’s fine,” Barnaby says quickly. “I mean, it’s not so bad. And… thanks for that.”

“It was nothing.” He finishes buttoning his shirt, gazing skyward as though admiring a halo there. “It’s the responsibility of the older partner to watch out for the younger one…”

“Is that why you always have to comment on my food choices?”

“You drink too much soda. Do you know how bad that is for you? Didn’t you know that high-calorie energy drinks have been linked to--”

“You drink too much shochu,” Barnaby counters. “Do you know how bad that is for you? Didn’t you know that the long-term effects of alcohol--”

Kotetsu objects, “--Hey, that’s my job.” Barnaby shakes his head, massaging the balm into his aching muscles. He’s willing to call this one a tie.

 

* * *

 

Kotetsu’s guffawing laughter fills the air outside Apollon Media Tower, rebounding off the concrete steps, washing over the traffic and out to sea. He’s laughing so hard that they have to stop so he can double over. People are stopping to stare. They’re catching the contagion, laughing along without knowing why.

Barnaby is so busy marvelling at the overflow of mirth - and, not being immune, laughing along too - that he can’t remember what unintentionally hilarious thing he said to set it off. It’s one of those long, deep, cathartic laughs that lasts so long it feels like it could break you apart. Kotetsu is gasping, “Bunny! Bunny!” between howls, barely able to breathe, barely able to get the words out, tears streaming down his face.

Standing and laughing is obviously too much to ask. Kotetsu gives up and sits on the steps, holding his sides - and now it strikes Barnaby that the pinched lines around his eyes could as well be from pain as from laughter, how his wide smile also resembles a wince. He puts a hand on his partner’s shoulder and asks through unwilling chuckles, “Are you okay? Kotetsu?”

Kotetsu nods, the laughter dying off, the wince and pinched eyes lingering. “Ah, Bunny, don’t make me laugh so hard! That hurts…”

Barnaby pulls away, letting his hand slide down his partner’s back - and he feels something beneath the fabric of Kotetsu’s shirt and vest that catches him by surprise. “Are you wearing a bandage?”

Kotetsu gives him an embarrassed sideways glance. “Ah, ha… maybe.”

Alarmed - and irritated - Barnaby slips his fingers beneath Kotetsu’s arm to touch his side. Kotetsu flinches away. “Are your ribs broken?!”

“I’m fine, I’m fine.” The older hero tries to wave him off. “It’s no big deal, Bunny.”

“When did this happen? Did you get checked out?”

He stands, stooping a bit and favoring his right side. “On our last hero call. It’s just fractures I think.”

“You _think?_ ” Barnaby is concerned about the injury, but more than that, he’s outraged at his partner’s hypocrisy. This, from a man who has set himself up as King of ‘For-your-own-good’ Mountain, who insists pickled fruits are a cure-all, who nags incessantly about vitamins...

“Ah... Leave it alone, will you?” He’s holding his side, but he tries to assuage Barnaby, “It’s not like this is my first time with broken ribs. All they can do is bandage you up and send you home.”

Barnaby explodes. “Aren’t you the one who’s always telling people to take care of themselves?” Kotetsu’s eyes dart around at the crowds, imploring Barnaby to keep his voice down. “How can you have been walking around -- training, on hand for hero calls -- for days without seeing a doctor about this?”

“Bunny, it’s fine!” He lifts his hands in surrender. “Look, I’ll talk to Saito in the morning. I’ll take a nap in that stupid coffin of his. It’ll be fine.”

“Saito isn’t a _medical doctor_ , Kotetsu.”

“Yeah, but he’s got an x-ray machine and he knows things. Quit overreacting and calm down.”

Incensed, Barnaby grabs his arm and starts dragging him to the taxi stand. “This is ridiculous. Come on, we’re going to a clinic.”

“ _No, Barnaby!_ ” Kotetsu rips his arm away - hard enough that he jostles himself and hugs his injured side again. Barnaby is surprised to see anger on his face, and… is it fear in his eyes? “I said leave it alone. I know what I’m doing.”

Barnaby just gapes, unable to comprehend how his friend’s incessant health concerns could have suddenly inverted like this -- unable to understand why Barnaby, ever on the receiving end of Kotetsu’s concerns, isn’t allowed to reciprocate.

Finally he explodes: “ _Why are you such a stubborn old man?_ ”

Scowling, Kotetsu turns on his heel and marches away.

Barnaby lets him go. They’ll both spend the night fuming, and tomorrow morning Barnaby will ensure that both Saito and Lloyds are informed about the injury. Kotetsu will probably have to go on forced leave for a few weeks. He’ll be enraged, but Barnaby doesn’t care. If Kotetsu can stick his nose in Barnaby’s business again and again and again, then Barnaby can do the same.

Sometimes there’s no winning with him. Stubborn old man, indeed.

 

* * *

 

After only a few minutes, Barnaby feels the soothing effect of the IV’s painkillers, and he can finally relax.

Kotetsu, on the other hand, is still a tightly wound ball of nerves.

Barnaby says, hoping to reassure him, “I’m sure it’s nothing to worry about.” He’s basing this assessment on the Emergency Room nurses’ evident lack of concern, and also the fact that he’d been left unattended for almost half an hour. Obviously he does not meet the criteria for ‘emergency’.

Of course, it’s easy to say this now. An hour earlier, with so much pain throbbing through his abdomen he couldn’t stand, had been a different story.

“Well, we’ll find out soon,” Kotetsu says, his fingers tapping a frenetic beat on Barnaby’s exam bed. He keeps glancing at the hallway. “Or we will if these doctors ever come do their job.”

They settle into an uncomfortable silence as they wait. Barnaby floats in an analgesic haze, watching Kotetsu fidget. He can’t explain his partner’s behavior - he’d seemed like his normal keeping-it-together self when he picked Barnaby up at his apartment and half-carried him to his car, cracking jokes all the while...

Now it’s as though Kotetsu is the one who needs to be on the receiving end of someone’s care.

Barnaby tries again to reassure him. “Kotetsu, I’m okay now. Really.”

Kotetsu looks down at his restless hands, at his bouncing feet, and abruptly overcomes his impulses. He goes still, flashes an embarrassed smile at Barnaby. “Sorry! I guess I don’t like hospitals very much.”

In his stupor, Barnaby lets this pass by -- thinking, it’s a common enough affliction. “Thanks for bringing me here,” he says, “but I’m really okay, if you want to go.”

“Come on, Bunny,” he says with a teasing grin, “what kind of partner would I be if I abandoned you here?” Something subtle on Kotetsu’s face changes as he’s saying the words. By the end of the sentence, he’s not smiling anymore. He turns away abruptly. His hands are still as stone in his lap. “Heh... Am I making you nervous?”

“No,” Barnaby says, but it comes out sounding like ‘yes’.

Kotetsu sighs. “Sorry, Bunny. _I'm_ supposed to be telling _you_ not to worry, right?” He slumps into the chair and puts his feet up on Barnaby's exam bed in a show of affected nonchalance. “Why don't we see what channels they get in here?” He grabs the remote for the television mounted in the corner and starts flipping.

A minute later, his foot is tapping again. “I don't know what's taking them so long,” he complains, eyes still on the hallway even as he surfs channels.

They're saved from further conversation by the arrival of a doctor, much to their joint relief. It doesn't take her long to proclaim appendicitis. She pats Barnaby on the shoulder comfortingly, explains he'll have to be admitted and he'll need surgery sometime in the next forty-eight hours. She makes it clear in her tone - helpful and positive - that this is a good diagnosis. More an inconvenience than a concern, and easily corrected. Barnaby accepts this information with thanks. But Kotetsu, as expected, has a host of questions. Why not perform the surgery now? How complicated is it? How long after will be be released? The doctor handles the barrage in stride - calm and reassuring. It’s a simple procedure they perform every day, she says. Nothing to worry about, and Mr. Brooks will be back on his feet by the end of the week.

With the doctor gone to make the arrangements, Barnaby looks up at Kotetsu, expecting to see the same relief that he now feels. Yet it’s not reflected there. On the rail of Barnaby’s bed, Kotetsu’s finger continues tapping out its hurried rhythm. “Good news, isn’t it?”

Kotetsu blinks, coming back to himself, and flashes an overly happy grin. “Oh - yeah, I guess you were right and it’ll all be fine. Thank goodness!”

It’s a posture if Barnaby has ever seen one. He adds pointedly, “So, there’s no need to worry anymore.”

“Hm?” Kotetsu follows Barnaby’s eyes to his still-tapping fingers. “Oh - heh...” He releases the rail to scratch the back of his head. “I’ll just feel better when you’re better and out of here, Bunny.” Kotetsu reclaims his seat in the adjacent chair - slouches, flipping channels again - obviously forcing himself to relax. “I’ll have to do a run home for some things if we’re going to be here for a few days.”

Barnaby blinks at the ‘we’. “Kotetsu…” His partner’s eyes find his - all innocence, fake boredom painted across them like his hero mask. “...I don’t think they’re going to let you stay here the whole time.”

Kotetsu just mutters, “I wasn’t going to give them a choice.”

Barnaby opens his mouth to breathe some much-needed logic into the conversation - when a stereo chime issues from their wristbands. The heroes react in tandem, raising their wrists to view the alert.

_EMERGENCY: Bank robbery in progress -- hostages likely_ , the alert window displays. Barnaby sets his teeth in frustration. This will be the first hero call he’s ever missed. Of course it can’t be helped, but he’ll miss his perfect record. Then, Agnes’s voice. “Tiger, Barnaby, we need you downtown. Police are already--”

Kotetsu interrupts. “Sorry, Ms. Agnes. We can’t come.” The ‘we’ again, in a voice full of seriousness. Barnaby starts to protest but Kotetsu waves silence at him. “Barnaby’s laid up with appendicitis, and I’m staying with him. It’ll be a few days…”

“Kotetsu!” Barnaby balks.

“...so please don’t contact either of us during that time. Thank you for understanding.”

Kotetsu taps off the link. “Wait just a second!” Agnes’s burst of outrage issues from Barnaby’s wristband instead. “Of course I understand for Barnaby, but Tiger, there’s no excuse for you to--” But Kotetsu grabs Barnaby’s arm and cancels the link from his band as well.

Barnaby stares, flabbergasted, at his partner - Mr. ‘I’ll be a hero until the day I die’. In his nearly fifteen years as Wild Tiger, he's missed a handful of calls, but never - as far as Barnaby is aware - to sit in a chair and do nothing.

Is his baffling need to take care of everyone around him _that_ strong? Does he think he’s going to spend the next four days force-feeding Barnaby pickled plums and ginger tea?

Kotetsu’s wristband chimes -- he quickly taps it off.

No, it's not that. Or not _just_ that. Barnaby senses this is something deeper. There’s an open wound here. “A-- are you okay, Kotetsu?”

“Fine,” he answers with a verbal shrug. But his face is grave as he picks up the tv remote once again. He’s avoiding Barnaby’s eyes - an invitation that Barnaby can read, even through his painkiller haze, to shut up and drop the subject.

Barnaby cringes. This is foreign territory for him. Kotetsu is the one who knows what to say to people - who sees through to the heart of personal crises and knows how to fix them.

He imagines the two of them a few minutes from now, watching the bank heist unfold on Hero TV. He imagines what the guilt will do to Kotetsu if anything happens to the hostages while he sits here at Barnaby’s bedside, twiddling his thumbs.

Kotetsu’s knee is bouncing again.

“You know…” Barnaby starts, hesitant, trying to imagine what Kotetsu would say if their situations were reversed, “I don’t mind if you go without me. I mean, I cover for you all the time when you’re visiting home. Just because I can’t go doesn’t mean you have to stay behind.”

It chimes again. He taps it off. “No,” his partner says, “I’ll stay here.”

“But… if something happens and you’re not there...”

Something tightens around Kotetsu’s eyes. Barnaby can’t identify it. “The others will handle it, Bunny.” He gives Barnaby a sideways glance - even out of the corner of his eye, his gaze is penetrating and insightful. “We don’t need talk about this, okay?”

Barnaby blinks at his partner. Does he let it lie? Does he press forward? Silence settles over them as Barnaby searches for the words that will convince Kotetsu either to explain himself or to get back to being a hero.

In the silence, Kotetsu’s band chimes yet again -- Agnes really doesn’t take no for an answer. She’s stubborn. Like Kotetsu, Barnaby thinks. Like Barnaby should be?... He gives it one last try. “I really will be okay here on my own, Kotetsu. There’s doctors and nurses - it’s not like anything’s going to happen.” He can see the muscles at the corner of Kotetsu’s jaw unclenching and clenching again. “I know you’d rather be out there…”

Kotetsu heaves a frustrated sigh and bows his head. A sign of defeat? Barnaby wonders. Has he won?

Without even a glance, the older hero stands and strides quickly for the door. Success! -- Barnaby feels a twinge of relief. He hates the idea of being a source of frustration for Kotetsu - of being the tether that keeps him from what he loves, even for a day. After all, it would be a poor way to repay the one person who’s selflessly done more for him - who watches his back, sacrifices his time, shows concern for him - than anyone else in his entire life.

But Kotetsu doesn't make it to the door. Instead, removing his wristband, he stops at the counter against the wall, reaches for a metal canister --

\-- and _SMASHES_ it down on the band.

Barnaby flinches. _SMASH! SMASH! SMASH!_ The staccato violence shakes the walls. An alarmed nurse leans through the doorway to investigate -- Barnaby waves her off with a look of warning.

His partner hammers methodically at the device until its electronic components go into death throes, sparking and fizzling. Frozen behind him, Barnaby is surprised the tension in Kotetsu's shoulders doesn’t send up sparks of its own.

Calmly, Kotetsu drops the ruined wristband in the garbage and returns to his chair. He puts his feet up. Like nothing out of the ordinary just happened. Barnaby stares. He allows silence to settle over them again, hearing only the sounds of the television, Kotetsu’s calm, measured breaths, and the rush of his own startled heartbeat in his ears.

Still not meeting his gaze, Kotetsu only says, “I promise I’ll explain one day.”

After a moment, Barnaby murmurs assent. He still doesn’t understand what this has all been about. But he does understand that here and now - trapped in this exam bed, trapped in this strange moment - he can give Kotetsu something he needs: silent acceptance. Barnaby can live without understanding the rest for a few days, or months, or however long it takes for Kotetsu’s mysterious open wound to heal so that he can talk about it. And if he never wants to talk about it, Barnaby knows he can live with that, too.

In the meantime, there’s a bank heist to observe. He touches Kotetsu’s arm. “Put on Hero TV, we should at least cheer them on,” he says with a cautious smile. Kotetsu smiles back. It isn’t quite a happy smile. But it isn't forced or fake, either. He switches the channel, then drops the remote, opting instead to hold onto Barnaby’s fingers where they’re resting on his arm.

They watch the action unfold together. If anything goes wrong, Barnaby thinks, he'll be here to keep Kotetsu in one piece. It's not like he can go anywhere else.

 

* * *

 

Since they’re there to celebrate his latest record-breaking capture, everyone has agreed that lunch today is on Barnaby.

Huddled around their favorite food stand in Apollon Park, the incognito heroes place their orders, and Barnaby forks over a handful of dollars to a chorus of cheers and ‘thank you’s. He’s glad to do it - genuinely. It hasn’t always been the case, but now he’s grateful for the chance to spend time with his colleagues out of uniform (or, rather, out of hero suits). And it feels good to do something nice for them, as well -- which reminds him...

He waves over the counter at the line cook preparing their orders and requests, “Extra pickles on those two hotdogs.”

A familiar hand drops onto Barnaby’s shoulder and gives him a squeeze. Barnaby turns to find his partner grinning at him, jokingly-smug and proud. “I knew you’d come around to them one day!” he says. Barnaby just chuckles and shakes his head.

He still scowls when they receive their food, though. He’s resigned himself to eating them, but he’ll never learn to like them - and even Kotetsu seems intimidated by the mountain of pickle slices the cook has heaped onto Barnaby’s hotdog. “You’ll feel great after,” Kotetsu reassures.

With a wordless smirk, Barnaby transfers half of his pile to Kotetsu’s. “Oh!” he says with pleasant surprise. Then Barnaby turns to the crowd of their colleagues and calls, “Anyone with more pickles than they want - Kotetsu will take them.” Kotetsu’s next “oh” sounds less pleased as he mumbles “But the proportions were already perfect…”

Once the swarm of appreciative heroes has dispersed, the older hero drifts toward the condiments bar, contemplating his lunch, which is now topped by at least three hotdogs’ worth of the vinegary vegetable. “Well, at least I know how to make this palatable,” he grins, and reaches --

Barnaby snatches the mayonnaise away. “Hey! Bunny!”

He smiles - he’s been waiting for this moment - and offers ketchup instead. “Lower in fat and higher in vitamins. I’m keeping you healthy, Old Man.”

Kotetsu sets his jaw and purses his lips in a pout. “Bunny-chan, I’m glad you’re embracing healthy habits, but come on…”

Barnaby just shakes his head. “Not going to happen. We’re both embracing new habits.”

“Look at this mountain of pickles! I’m already being three-times healthier than you!”

“You need more of them since you’re older than me.”

He fumes - but Barnaby knows it’s insincere. “I’m not _that_ much older.”

Barnaby shrugs and starts eating his hotdog, pickles and all. It’s not a challenge. It’s not a concession. It’s just how things are going to be now: each letting the other look out for them. Sometimes it may seem small and intrusive, but sometimes it will be like being plucked out of freefall. Barnaby has learned to let Kotetsu do this for him. Now Kotetsu will learn the same.

Kotetsu narrows his eyes at Barnaby and lifts his pickled monstrosity to his mouth. “You win this one, Bunny.”

Barnaby allows himself a private, knowing smile, then guides his partner toward the gathering of their colleagues to celebrate.

 

* * *

 

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading, really hope you enjoyed it :) Drop a note if you've got thoughts, feelz, or suggestions, I dig all forms of feedback!


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